


Fated First Encounters

by AceTrainerHope



Series: Borrowed Fate [1]
Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates, The Borrowers - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Borrowers Fusion, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, G/T, Gen, Modern-ish, borrower!Sakura
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-01
Updated: 2018-03-15
Packaged: 2019-03-25 10:18:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,103
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13832115
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AceTrainerHope/pseuds/AceTrainerHope
Summary: All it takes is one mistake, one little slip-up to change everything.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [SmolGooDragon](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SmolGooDragon/gifts).



Takumi always said that her curiosity would be the death of her.

She never really _actually_ believed him until today.

Of course, Sakura knew that her brother only meant well; the two younger siblings had always been closer to each other than to Ryoma or Hinoka. And it wasn’t like she was reckless about what she was doing. In fact, she’d never been more careful with anything else.

But she just couldn't help herself.

No matter how dangerous it might be, watching the humans from a distance was just too interesting _not_ to do; the family so similar to her own, downright identical in all but personalities, composed of two brothers and two sisters, as well as parents who were no longer around.

Sakura found solidarity in these similarities, even though she knew she could never talk with the larger beings. That would be suicide for a borrower—a fact that Sakura was keenly aware of. Those fears had been instilled in her by her parents before they had died, and continually fueled by her older siblings ever since.

But fear couldn't stop her from wanting to learn more about the people that she and her family lived with in secret.

 

In that moment, the focus of her attention was the older of the two human sisters; Camilla. The lavender-haired woman sat at her desk, deep in concentration as she worked away at her latest sewing project.

Meanwhile, Sakura hid out of sight on the bookshelf close by. A disguised panel in the back of the highest shelf led to a secret passageway inside the wall, which was how she had gotten up there in the first place.

She always loved watching Camilla work, intrigued by the level of detail put into each and every stitch. Sometimes Camilla would even make doll clothes for her young sister, Elise. The amount of intricacy that when into each little outfit left Sakura awestruck. In fact, many of the discarded pieces from those particular projects were inevitably “borrowed” and used as clothing for the doll-sized residents of the household. Her sewing skills were just that good.

More often than not, though, Camilla would just be patching up holes and replacing buttons, or altering outfits that were either too big or too small.

Today, however, she wasn’t doing either of those two things. It was hard for Sakura to tell from her vantage point, but it looked like Camilla was making a dress. And based on the size and colors—a beautiful mix of different dark blues with accents of gold and white—it seemed like it was for herself, not Elise. The younger blonde usually preferred soft pastel colors, especially pink.

Sakura leaned closer and closer to the edge of the bookshelf, trying to get a better look. She was so focused on staying out of sight that she didn’t notice that the book she was leaning against was starting to tilt. Even her light, barely noticeable weight was enough to offset the tome’s balance.

It wobbled the slightest bit before finally toppling over, and by the time Sakura realized what was happening, it was too late.

The book fell flat on the shelf with a soft _thud_.

Right on top of her.

Thankfully, it wasn't heavy enough to hurt, but she still let out a startled yelp as she was knocked off her feet. Not only that, but it _was_ heavy enough to keep her pinned underneath. Try as she might, Sakura just didn't have the strength to push the tome off of her.

Panic started to bubble up in her chest as her heart rate skyrocketed. Especially when she heard a thoughtful hum, followed by the sound of the desk chair scooting back.

Camilla was coming to investigate.

_Oh no, no, no, this can’t be happening—_

Sakura froze completely as the pressure above her was lifted away with ease and the book was returned to its righted position.

For the briefest moment, it seemed that Camilla might have looked right past her, but then those bright magenta eyes darted back to meet Sakura’s light brown ones, as if they were only just now registering her tiny and prone form.

She couldn't breathe.

She’d probably be hyperventilating even if she could.

For the longest moment, neither of them moved; Sakura too scared to and Camilla too shocked.

And then Sakura started to tremble.

Her worst fears were about to be realized. There was no way she could get up and back inside the walls without Camilla catching her first, and even if she could get away, that hardly mattered.

She had been seen.

Borrowers weren’t supposed to be seen.

That was her kind’s number one rule.

Sakura’s mind immediately jumped to the worst possible scenarios for what might happen next. Perhaps Camilla would kill her right then and there. Or perhaps she would capture her and keep her as a pet or a trinket to put on display. Or sell her to the highest bidder.

Whatever it might be, the outcome would be the same; Sakura would never see her family again. They’d never know what happened to her, but Gods, they would be devastated. They—

Sakura flinched rather violently as something suddenly nudged against her shoulder.

She nearly shrieked, too.

Camilla’s finger—for that was what the offending “something” was—immediately retreated in response, as if it had been burned on contact.

“Hey there, it’s alright,” the older woman crooned gently. “There’s no need to be scared.”

 _Easy for you to say!_ Sakura thought indignantly. Not that she’d ever dream of saying that out loud.

“Are you hurt?”

She would’ve shaken her head if she hadn't been so terrified. Not to mention it felt like her words were stuck in her throat, practically choking her, so forget about answering verbally.

“Can you… understand me?” Camilla wondered. The human tilted her head to the side ever so slightly, the shock in her eyes slowly being replaced by curiosity.

Curiosity.

The cursed thing that’d gotten Sakura into this mess in the first place. All it took was one little careless mistake and everything was rui–

A sudden warmth enveloped Sakura on both sides as something _very much alive_ scooped her off of the bookshelf. Camilla now had her hands cupped under the pink-haired borrower, lifting her up and away from safety, from her only chance at escape.

Everything around her was shifting and moving.

Too fast. Too high. Too warm. _Too much._

Sakura finally found her voice.

“ _Nononononopleasedon’tohgodsno—!!”_ It was like a dam had burst, her words rushing out like a torrent of water as she vainly reached out toward the shelf.

She fought against two conflicting instincts; one that made her want to squirm and struggle against Camilla’s grasp, and the other that made her want to cling to it for fear of falling all the way down to the floor below.

In the end, she remained unmoving, save for her body shaking harder and harder. Her eyes were trained down to her lap, unable to meet Camilla’s gaze.

As it turned out, her words weren’t the only torrent.

Well, at least she was finally breathing again—even if it came out ragged and hiccupy.

“Hey now, there’s no need for that,” Camilla soothed in a soft tone. She gently stroked Sakura’s shoulder with her thumb in a small circular motion. As much as Sakura didn’t want to admit it, the gesture actually felt rather nice. Certainly not unpleasant.

“You’re safe. How could I ever hurt a cute little thing like you?”

 _C-Cute??_ Sakura echoed incredulously, her eyes snapping up to meet with Camilla’s before she quickly looked away again.

Had she been able to properly speak in the first place, Sakura was sure that a comment like that would have left her speechless, especially coming from someone as beautiful as Camilla. Her almost-sobs slowly faded away as a blush crept up her cheeks.

Another long moment of silence passed between them as Camilla waited for Sakura to respond in some way.

“P… P-Please, please p-put me d-down,” the young borrower finally stammered, struggling to force out each word.

“I will in a moment, dear, I promise,” Camilla insisted. “But first… were you hurt when that book fell on you?”

Sakura answered this time, shaking her head vigorously back and forth.

The concerned look on Camilla’s face shifted into a half-smile.

And then Sakura was relieved when she felt herself being lowered, relieved that Camilla was actually keeping her promise.

But that relief was immediately dashed when the lavender-haired woman started moving over to her workspace, setting the borrower down on the desk.

Sakura was left sitting on her knees as Camilla pulled her hands away and sat back down in the chair. She was half-tempted to bury herself in the mounds of fabric that were piled around her, if only to have some sort of barrier between her and the towering human. She couldn’t even bring herself to stand, though; her legs felt like jelly.

Although, she almost went through with that plan when one of Camilla’s hands returned. But this time, instead of making a grab for her, it stopped within an inch or so, holding out… a small scrap of cloth?

Well, small to Camilla. To Sakura, it was about as big as she was.

When the tiny girl only stared at it in confusion, Camilla explained herself. “Why don’t you dry those eyes, little one? Seeing you cry just breaks my heart.”

Oh.

It was meant to be a sort of makeshift handkerchief.

That made sense.

Sakura accepted the offering tentatively, grasping at the scrap with both hands—which were still trembling. Even so, she still used it to wipe away the faint tears that trailed down her cheeks.

“… What’s your name, dear?” The human wondered with a kind and welcoming smile. After Sakura took some time to calm down a bit, that is. “You can call me Camilla.”

Clinging tightly to her scrap of cloth, Sakura hesitated.

Camilla hadn’t done anything terrible to her… yet. Aside from picking her up without her permission, she’d been nothing but kind and gentle to Sakura so far. She’d set her down when Sakura had asked, and she’d even tried to comfort her as best as she could.

Of course, Sakura was still very much afraid, and she had every right to be.

But…

Well, maybe it was a bit naive, but there was a small part of her that wanted to trust Camilla’s kindness. That dangerous curiosity of hers was rearing its head once more, filling her with the urge to learn more about this woman. No matter how foolish that might be.

“… S-Sakura.”


	2. Chapter 2

“So… what were you doing on my bookshelf, Sakura?” Camilla wondered.

There wasn’t the slightest hint of suspicion in her soothing and sultry tone, just a genuine interest in finding out the answer.

But that didn’t stop Sakura from wincing at the question.

Really, though, she should’ve seen it coming. It was only logical that Camilla would want to know what she’d been doing up there.

The problem was that Sakura didn’t know how she should answer. The truth seemed… almost too embarrassing. On the other hand, she couldn’t really come up with a decent lie. Or any kind of lie, really; convincing or not. Perhaps it was her own panicked and fearful state of mind working against her, but she couldn’t think of any other excuse she could give.

“I-I… I, um…” She stuttered meekly, fidgeting with the scrap of fabric in her hands. It was like each word had to run through a maze before she could speak it.

However, the pink-haired borrower cut herself off and dared a quick glance upward as Camilla moved suddenly.

The older woman was simply resting her elbow on the desk, though, about a foot away from where Sakura sat. She then rested her head against her hand as she waited patiently for the tiny girl to answer. Even a simple gesture like that was enough to put Sakura on edge.

She hated being so skittish, but… she couldn’t help it.

She also didn’t want to find out what might happen if Camilla’s patience ran thin.

“I-I was s-sort of, um, w-watching you work?” Sakura finally admitted after returning her gaze down to her lap once more. Maintaining eye contact was always something she struggled with, but it did make talking at least somewhat easier when she didn’t have to meet the other person’s gaze.

“What was that, dear? I’m afraid I couldn’t quite hear you,” Camilla noted almost sheepishly, leaning in a bit closer.

The faintest little whimper escaped Sakura’s lips at the proximity, and she immediately scooted backwards.

“I-I said, I was w-watching you work,” she repeated, the blush on her cheeks getting redder and redder. The words didn’t come out much louder than before, even as Sakura tried speaking up. “Y-You’re, um, r-really good at sewing.”

“Oh. Well, thank you. I appreciate the compliment,” Camilla stated. “It’s nice to know I’ve got a little admirer,” she added, half amused by her own play on words.

 

It was fairly obvious that Sakura was still downright terrified. 

Although, Camilla supposed it was normal for a mouse-sized girl to be… well, _mousy._  She tried not to take it personally, but it did make her rather sad to see that every little thing she did elicited such a fearful response.

But _Gods_ , Sakura was just so adorable.

From the very moment Camilla had laid eyes on the tiny girl, she was filled with a strong desire to protect her, and her motherly instincts immediately took over. Practically went into overdrive, in fact. She had to fight the urge to scoop Sakura right back up and hold her close. And the longer the two of them interacted with each other, the harder it was becoming to suppress that urge.

There were plenty of other questions that Camilla had, though all except one were pushed aside as she came to an interesting realization.

She hadn’t noticed it at first, but…

“Hold on, Sakura, what you’re wearing… Is that…?” Camilla trailed off, reaching out and carefully pinching one of Sakura’s sleeves between two fingers.

The pink-haired girl flinched and tried to pull away, but even though Camilla’s grip was gentle, it was still strong enough to hold her in place. Another yelp of a whimper slipped out as Camilla leaned in even closer, examining Sakura’s outfit.

The white dress had faint floral patterns embroidered into the fabric, and a single sky blue stripe along the hem. Its long sleeves were a smidge too baggy for Sakura’s lean arms, but overall, it fit decently enough on her form.

Camilla recognized it, though.

She’d recognize her own stitchwork anywhere.

This particular outfit had been an experiment of sorts; Camilla had sewn the tiny flower outlines into it herself, after the dress was already put together. It’d been a pretty pain-staking process, and in the end she didn’t even really like how it turned out, so she’d scrapped it.

But that was weeks ago.

That meant—  

“I-I-I’m sorry!” Sakura stammered out quickly, still struggling in vain to pull away from the older woman’s grasp. “I-I thought you were g-going to throw it out, s-so I… I… I-I’ll give it back if you still want it!”

And now Camilla was just plain confused.

She almost wanted to laugh, but instead she let go of Sakura’s sleeve and leaned back a bit, giving the girl some space. “There’s no need to apologize, dear; I _was_ going to throw it out. I’m just surprised to see you wearing it, that’s all. You really do like my sewing, huh?”

“Y-You’re… You’re not m-mad?” The tiny girl asked, looking surprised.

This time Camilla did laugh, a faint little chuckle. “Of course not. Why would I be mad?”

“W-Well, I… I took this from you,” Sakura stuttered. “I-I just thought… Um…” Unsure of how to vocalize what she was thinking, she let her voice trail off into silence.

“It’s just some little scraps of fabric, dear. I never would’ve even noticed it was gone,” Camilla reassured her.

She was about to say more, but a series of knocks at her bedroom door interrupted her.

A muffled voice called in, “Camilla?”

 

Sakura wanted to scream.

She almost did.

Dealing with Camilla alone was near-impossible enough. She didn’t even want to _think_ about having another human around.

“Just a minute!” Camilla replied to whoever was waiting out in the hallway. She then turned to Sakura, lowering her voice as she spoke again, “I’ll be right back. Just sit tight.”

Sakura barely even finished processing what Camilla had said before the lavender-haired woman stood up and walked over to get the door. Luckily for the young borrower, Camilla’s desk was situated in such a way that it couldn’t really be seen from the doorway.

Oh Gods, this was her chance.

If she acted quickly, Sakura might be able to climb off of the desk and hide before Camilla got back. She probably wouldn’t be able to get back into the walls, but she was certainly willing to wait it out until the next opportunity arose.

She was up on her feet in less than a second. No time to hesitate.

A sweeping glance of the deskspace around her drew Sakura’s attention to the dark blue dress that Camilla had been working on earlier. About half of the gown was hanging off of the side of the desk.

_Perfect._

Sakura didn’t even stop to think about it. She darted over and immediately started using the fabric to inch her way down to the floor, one fistful at a time.

Careful but quick, this was a task that she was quite experienced with.

In her rushed and frantic state, Sakura vaguely registered the voice of Camilla’s younger brother, Leo, as the two humans conversed about… something. Sakura wasn’t paying enough attention to hear what. Ordinarily, she would’ve loved to know what they were talking about, but this was no ordinary case.

There was about a foot-high gap between the floor and where the dress ended, and even though that was about three times as tall as Sakura herself was, that was a drop she could handle. After all, this wasn’t the first time she’d done something like this.

She was almost there.

Just a little farther and she could jump for it.

_Just a little farther…!_

Sakura nearly lost her grip at the sound of the bedroom door clicking shut.

And she froze up completely as Camilla’s footsteps followed shortly afterward.

“Sorry about that, dear, I—”

 

Obviously Camilla was surprised when Sakura wasn’t waiting where she’d left her. She’d only been gone for a few minutes.

There was even the briefest doubt in Camilla’s mind where she honestly wondered if she had just imagined their entire interaction.

But, after a few seconds, it wasn’t hard to spot Sakura clinging to a portion of Camilla’s latest project that was hanging down off of the desk. The tiny girl’s white clothing stood out like a sore thumb against the much darker fabric.

Something akin to panic surged through the older woman’s veins at the sight of Sakura dangling there, and along with it came the fear that she might fall.

And then it was almost like Camilla had shifted into autopilot. The next thing she knew, she was kneeling on the floor right beside the desk with her hands out in front of her like a safety net for the younger girl.

“Sakura, what were you thinking?” Camilla chided, sounding very much like a concerned parent, though she kept her voice down with their proximity in mind. “You could’ve gotten hurt!”

No answer.

It took Camilla a moment to realize that Sakura’s terrified, deer-in-the-headlights expression had returned full force. It had never really gone away in the first place, but Camilla could have sworn it’d at least eased away a little the more the two of them talked with each other.

Now it seemed as if, once more, Sakura was too afraid to speak.

Camilla’s expression softened upon making that realization, and then she carefully edged her hands up to pull Sakura away from the fabric. The girl flinched away from her touch immediately, and her grip on the dress tightened; so much so that her tiny knuckles had gone about as white as her clothing.

“N-No! P-Please, n-not again,” she pleaded, practically begging. A fresh wave of fearful tears spilled down her cheeks, and Camilla couldn’t help but feel guilty.

At first, she didn’t really understand what Sakura meant by ‘not again,’ and then it dawned on her; Sakura desperately _did not_ want to be held.

“Sakura… It’s okay, dear. I’m not angry with you,” Camilla soothed, pulling her hands away. She still kept them hovering close by in case Sakura lost her grip, though. “You just scared me, that’s all.”

“ _I-I_ scared _you?”_ Sakura repeated in disbelief, though she spoke so softly that Camilla barely heard her.

“Well, maybe ‘worried’ is a better word for it. I would hate for you to fall; why don’t you let me set you back up on the desk, alright?”

Sakura shook her head, but didn’t say anything else.

“You can’t stay there forever, dear,” Camilla noted with a faint chuckle. She definitely hadn’t meant it as a threat, but as soon as she said it, she feared that Sakura might construe it that way. “Aren’t your arms getting tired?”

“I-I could climb back up on my own, i-if I wanted to,” Sakura stated somewhat defensively. “B-But I… I-I want to go home now.”`

 

Sakura regretted her choice of words almost immediately after she said them.

There wasn't really a better way to phrase it, but… saying ‘home’ just felt like a mistake, like it was something she shouldn’t have said.

“Oh? And where is home?” the human wondered curiously.

When Sakura didn’t answer, _again_ , Camilla sighed. More pensive than frustrated, thankfully.

“You know, I have so many question for you. You’re quite the little mystery,” she noted with a soft, lighthearted laugh. “I won’t make you stay, but… promise you’ll come back and see me again? I would really like to talk with you more.”

 _Promise_.

That one word hung heavy in Sakura’s heart.

She believed that Camilla would let her go whether any sort of promise was made or not, but the thought of _not_ making that promise felt… wrong. Or at least really rude. Especially after how kindly Camilla had treated her when she very easily didn’t have to.

Of course, Sakura could always _say_ she would come back, and then just… not. She could lie, and then return to her family. She could tell them what had happened, and then the four of them would find a new home. A new home where she wouldn’t take such stupid risks all for the sake of sating her curiosity.

Or…

Sakura could keep her word. She and Camilla could see each other again, and talk more. _Try_ to talk more, anyway. Sakura would probably still be a stuttering mess the entire time, but… talking with Camilla wasn’t _that_ terrible, if she was being honest with herself. Maybe they could even be friends?

The choice was hers.

 

“… I-I promise I will.”

“Glad to hear it,” Camilla stated, beaming with an eager smile. “I can’t wait to see you again.”

Sakura nodded somewhat uncertainly as she tried to muster up a smile of her own.

After that, she climbed down the remaining length of dress.

Once she reached the end, she let go, landing with a practiced grace. The entire time she did this, Camilla just sat back and watched, although there was a fair amount of worry hidden underneath her calm exterior. The tiny girl then made her way over to the bookshelf, which sat just a few inches away from the desk. And again, Camilla stayed right where she was, making no sudden moves.

Sakura spared the lavender-haired woman one last glance over her shoulder, gave her an awkward wave goodbye, and then disappeared under the bookshelf.

For all Camilla knew, that might have been the last time she ever saw Sakura again.

She didn’t really have any reason to believe that the mouse-sized girl would actually keep her word. In fact, after replaying their interactions over in her mind, she honestly wouldn’t be surprised if that _was_ the case.

But deep down, she had a feeling that Sakura wanted to get know her, too.

And with that feeling… came hope.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey so remember how I said this was going to be a one shot?  
> I'm a liar sometimes :'D
> 
> Sooooo this is probably the last chapter for this particular work, but I would like to write other related works and make this into a little series of sorts. Hence why the series itself already exists. :p 
> 
> But yeah, I have no concrete plotline for this, and barely any idea of where I want to go next, outside of, like, a few very short scenes. We'll just see what happens.
> 
> Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed, and feel free to subscribe to the series if you're interested in reading more. I'm sure I'll come up with more stuff eventually.  
> At some point.  
> Some day.  
> Maybe. :'3


End file.
